Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	$ (150)	$ 0
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	(158)	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	1	2
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(210)	(89)
Net proceeds from sale of business	22	0
Other	2	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	60	34
Net cash used by investing activities	(283)	(53)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	(20)	(13)
Repayments of term loans and notes	(64)	(13)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	28	6
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	(2)	(2)
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	2,119	1,267
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(1,981)	(1,189)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	(1)	(4)
Other	(3)	(30)
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	(1)	0
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	75	22
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	19	3
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(339)	(28)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	702	318
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	363	290
Reclass and Elims
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	0	0
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Net proceeds from sale of business	0
Other	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	0	0
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	0	0
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving lines of credit	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Other	0	0
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	0	0
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	0	0
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(29)	(27)
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(60)	(40)
Net proceeds from sale of business	6
Other	2
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	(52)	(40)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	(1)	(5)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	1,856	1,093
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(1,724)	(1,026)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Other	0	0
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	(236)	3
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	(105)	65
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(186)	(2)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	329	7
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	143	5
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(75)	32
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	(158)
Proceeds from sale of assets	1	2
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(150)	(49)
Net proceeds from sale of business	16
Other	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	60	34
Net cash used by investing activities	(231)	(13)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	(37)	(8)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	28	6
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	54	8
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(63)	(12)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	(1)	(4)
Other	(3)	(30)
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	157	(7)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	(1)
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	134	(47)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	19	3
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(153)	(25)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	369	311
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	216	286
Tenneco Inc
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(46)	(5)
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Net proceeds from sale of business	0
Other	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	0	0
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	(20)	(13)
Repayments of term loans and notes	(26)	0
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	(2)	(2)
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	209	166
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(194)	(151)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Other	0	0
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	79	4
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	46	4
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	(1)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	4	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	$ 4	$ (1)